KATHMANDU, MARCH 27
While Prime Minister Balendra (Balen) Shah has received numerous praises, he and his party have taken another positive step forward: Nearly two decades after the state implemented an inclusive policy, 33 per cent of the Cabinet is made up of female ministers for the first time.
Five women make up the 15-member Cabinet, which is headed by Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) senior leader Shah.
In a special ceremony today at the Office of the President in Shital Niwas, they took their oath of office and secrecy in front of the president. Sobita Gautam is the minister of law; Sita Badi is the minister of women, children and senior citizens; Pratibha Rawal is the minister of federal affairs and general administration; Geeta Chaudhary is the minister of agriculture and livestock development, and forest and environment; and Nisha Mehta is the minister of health and population. This is 33 per cent female representation.
The previous highest representation of women in the Council of Ministers occurred in 2022. The Council of Ministers, which consisted of 23 members at the time, included six women. Rekha Sharma was appointed minister of communications and information technology in the expanded Cabinet, which also included Jwala Kumari Sah as minister of agriculture and livestock development, Bimala Paudyal Rai as minister of foreign affairs, and Bhagwati Chaudhary as minister of women, children, and civil aviation. Women had a 26 per cent representation at that time.
In 2017, Sher Bahadur Deuba had formed the world's largest Cabinet. At that time, eight of the 53 ministers were women, including ministers of state - a total of 15 per cent. Baburam Bhattarai's Cabinet had the highest proportion of women.
The Cabinet led by Bhattarai, formed in 2011, included 10 women, including ministers and ministers of state - a 24 per cent representation.
In the Federal Parliament, each party is required to have 33 per cent women representatives. Although the Cabinet is formed in accordance with an inclusive policy, reaching 33 per cent proved difficult earlier because it was not mandatory. However, PM Shah has achieved this feat.
The five women in the Shah-led Cabinet represent the Khas Arya, Dalit, Madhesi and Tharu communities. Sudan Gurung represents the Janajati ethnic group.
PRATIBHA RAWAL (Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration)
Rawal has also been assigned the duties of the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation along with her main portfolio as the minister for federal affairs and general administration.
Rawal was chosen by the RSP's women's cluster to serve as a member of parliament using proportional representation.
She was employed at Galaxy Television as a programme producer before entering politics, and she has been active in politics since the RSP's founding.
She was born in Aithpur, Bhimdutta Municipality-6, Kanchanpur district, and has earned a bachelor's degree. She worked in Lamichhane's private secretariat and has more than 10 years of experience in journalism.
SITA BADI (Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens)
Badi is the first Badi community member sworn in as the minister for women, children, and senior citizens. She is an ardent advocate for women's empowerment. Her career has been devoted to social projects that improve the socioeconomic standing of marginalised women.
Talking to mediapersons, she emphasised the serious vulnerabilities that the Badi community's women face. Through sewing and tailoring classes, she has been leading initiatives to help women become economically independent.
She now lives in Budhanilkantha-8, Kathmandu, but she was born in Birendranagar Municipality-14 in Surkhet district. Badi joined the Rastriya Swatantra Party to start her political career.
"Women's circumstances are precarious, and the situation is particularly upsetting for the Dalit and Badi communities. I will work on result-oriented initiatives to improve the situation," she stated.
SOBITA GAUTAM (Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs)
Gautam is presently pursuing an LLM at the Kathmandu School of Law after completing her bachelor's degree in Law.
Gautam was born in Dolakha district on June 17, 1995, and is the permanent resident of Chitwan's Bharatpur Metropolitan City. She was elected as a member of Parliament for Chitwan Constituency-3 during the March 5 House of Representatives election.
NISHA MEHATA (Minister of Health and Population) Mehata is a professional nurse. Mehta - along with Rawal and Badi - has been with the RSP since its inception.
She was elected as a lawmaker from the Madhesi women's cluster using proportional representation. The 38-year-old is from Inaruwa, Sunsari. She completed her postgraduate studies in nursing from India. She previously worked as an associate professor at Birat Teaching Hospital in Biratnagar.
GEETA CHAUDHARY (Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs)
Chaudhary, a legal practitioner, was elected from Kanchanpur Constituency-2 using the proportional representation system. The 33-year-old minister from Shuklaphanta Municipality-4 in Kanchanpur district is the first Tharu woman from her community to be appointed to the Federal Cabinet. She has a bachelor's degree in law and a master's degree from Nepal Law Campus. In the previous general election in 2022, she ran for the Sudurpaschim Province Assembly, representing the Nagarik Unmukti Party.
